A Faint Glimmer of Hope
by lil'nomdeplume
Summary: This is just an idea I had for an end credits scene for Tony and Pepper in Civil War, born out of my own heartache for our love birds. This is in NO WAY what actually happens. (A girl can dream). I realize it may become quite passe once the movie's released, but I'm okay with that. May true love conquer all.
**I realize this is far too much to ask from Marvel (as they seem keen on using and abusing our couple, and their fans, for that matter), but I had to write this one-off because it's something I would die to see as an end credits scene in Civil War. So, make no mistake, this is in NO WAY what is ACTUALLY IN the end credits scene in the movie, that I know of. (No spoilers or inside info here. Sorry. This is purely the stuff of my own imagination, and wishful thinking.)**

 **It may be a tad rudimentary, I warn you. But I wanted to share, even if it seems out of place or passe in the future. I just can't help myself.**

 **Plus, I refuse to tie my love and loyalty to Marvel's mayhem. So, I'm going to keep writing, giving life to these two even if Marvel insists on taking it away! Pepperony forever!**

 **Happy Reading.**

"We'll have you back up and at 'em in no time. I promise," Tony told his best friend, as he sat on the edge of Rhodey's hospital bed. Rhodey had finally started to recover, after sustaining some very grave injuries that had left irreparable damage to his body.

Rhodey smiled kindly at his words, but shook his head doubtfully. "We'll see, man," he said. "They're telling me it's not looking good. You might have to start calling me _Wheels,_ soon."

Tony scoffed. "Doctors. What do _they_ know?" he said with a defiant smirk.

Rhodey said nothing, and just smiled, allowing Tony to believe his delusion for the time being. Truth _was,_ the doctors had pretty much guaranteed the fact that he'd be paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of his life. It was a nice thought to believe that he'd ever walk again, and very nice of Tony to be so optimistic, but the fact remained- his life, from this point forward, would never be the same.

"So, I have to ask- you and Pepper?" Rhodey said, wanting to change the subject, though _this_ topic was just as grim. "Any chance there's still a spark of hope left for the two of you?"

Tony smiled wistfully, and exhaled, adverting his eyes from Rhodey's gaze. He ran a hand through his hair, and worked his jaw before looking back into his eyes. Rhodey just cocked his head and waited patiently for a response.

"Uh...yeah, I, uh...I don't know. She's...I'm mean, I've _tried_ to..." he started to say, but was interrupted by his phone ringing. He frowned at the interruption, and hastily yanked it out of his pocket only to see Pepper's face plastered across the screen. Instantly, Tony's eyebrows shot up in surprise, and he flashed the phone in Rhodey's direction to show him who was calling.

"Well? What are you waiting for?! _Answer_ it, man!" Rhodey said, in both frustration at Tony's hesitation, and excitement at the possibility that finally _one_ of them had decided to cave, and make contact.

Tony nodded, and nervously swiped his screen with his thumb to answer, hurriedly bringing the phone to his ear. "Uh, h-hello?" he stammered, hoarsely.

"Tony?" he heard Pepper say, and he immediately closed his eyes at the sweet sound of her voice, actually _speaking_ to him, after all of this time apart. "Where are you?"

"I'm at the hospital..." he began.

" _Hospital?!_ Oh God, what's happened?! What's wrong?! Are you hurt?!" Pepper asked, her voice suddenly panicked.

And before he could even stop himself, the words, " _Why?_ Would you _care?_ " flew out of his mouth, to which he instantly grimaced and face-palmed himself. He heard her gasp in shock, and he immediately began to back peddle. "Wait, Pep. Scratch that. I didn't mean...That was...I'm sorry, I'm just... it's Rhodey. I'm here for Rhodey," he tried to explain.

"I _would_ care," she said softly, the hurt evident in her voice. "We may need to figure out what happens between you and I from _here,_ Tony. But I _would_ care. _Especially now_ ," she confessed.

Tony frowned, not understanding her meaning. "Why _especially_ now?" he asked.

Pepper sighed exasperatedly. " _Please_ don't make me do this over the phone. It's too important. Come to the office. We need to talk. Face to face," she urged.

Tony groused at her words. " _What's_ too important? Pepper, cut out all of the cryptic b.s., alright? Just _tell_ me what's..."

"Tony, _please._ We _need_ to do this face to face. Why can't you just..."

Tony huffed. "Come on, Pepper! You've got my attention! Just spill it! Why did you call me just to..." he argued.

He heard Pepper exhale sharply. " _Fine! God!_ Stubborn as _ever,_ I see! You wanna know what I have to tell you! Here it _is_!"

"Finally! Out with it! Lay it on me! What's _so_ important that you can't..."

"I'm _pregnant,_ " Pepper spouted, interrupting him sharply. " _There. Happy?"_

Tony froze, his eyes wide. Rhodey had heard most of the conversation, and sat, staring at his friend in shock. Tony soon heard a soft sob come from the other end of the line.

"Pepper, I..." he muttered, almost soundlessly.

"Oh, just _save_ it. Now you _know._ Sorry to have bothered you," he heard her say tearfully. Then, the line went dead.

Tony weakly lowered the phone from his ear, and stared into the middle distance in front of him, completely stunned. He struggled to be able to form words for several moments. "P-pregnant. She's..." he finally whispered. Then something occurred to him. He'd thought it odd that Steve had asked him before if she was pregnant, but now he started to wonder- had he _known?_ Could it be Pepper had told _Steve Rodgers_ before she'd told _him?_ He felt his blood begin to boil at the possibility. So he swallowed hard, trying to push the thought out of his mind for the time being, and turned to look at Rhodey, instead.

Rhodey looked at Tony expectantly. "Well?! What're you still sitting _here_ for?!" he asked.

Tony turned his head back around, and slowly sliding off the edge of the bed to a standing position. "Yeah, I uh...I need to, um...thanks, man...I'll uh," he spluttered.

Rhodey chuckled at his befuddled best friend. "Yeah, yeah. Go on. Get outta' here," he urged.

Tony nodded, and slowly backed out of the hospital room, awkwardly trying to keep his cool, until he was clear of the doorway. And then Rhodey watched as he immediately took off in a dead sprint down the hospital corridor to the elevator banks. Rhodey chuckled again, and shook his head in disbelief at the sudden turn of events, not being able to help smiling.

XxXxXxXxXx

Pepper stood staring out of her office window, her arms folded, completely lost in thought. Her cheeks were still damp and her eyes reddened, burned from the flood of tears that had come after she'd hung up on Tony. She'd taken a pregnancy test that morning, and had instantly burst into tears at the sight of the little blue plus sign that had almost instantaneously appeared, confirming, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that she and Tony were having a baby. This made the rest of the morning almost a complete blur, as she couldn't tear her thoughts away from this sudden shock. She'd asked Bambi to hold all of her calls and reschedule her meetings to give herself time to calm down, and muster enough courage to call Tony to tell him the news. And now, after the conversation had gone so poorly, she felt utterly spent. All she wanted to do now was to go back home, and crawl into bed. She wanted to hide for a while, and regroup. She knew she needed to come up with a plan- a plan to potentially raise this child on her _own._

One thing was clear to her- she was keeping the baby. But Tony's involvement in its life would have to be minimal, given the choice he'd made to remain Iron Man. She couldn't subject herself, and now, _their baby,_ to such risk so long as he was always in the public eye, and forever accumulating adversaries. It wouldn't be fair of him to demand that of her anymore, _or_ of their unborn child.

She was so immersed in her thoughts, that she didn't register the sound of Tony hurriedly entering her office until she heard him call her name.

"Pep?" he said behind her, his voice heavy with trepidation.

She pulled herself out of her reverie, slowly turning around to face him. His eyes looked panicked and his chest was heaving, and they stood staring at each other speechlessly. Pepper flicked her bangs from her eyes, and squared her shoulders, bracing herself for whatever fight was headed her way.

But instead, Tony unthawed from his place on the floor, and began quickly making his way to her, motioning for her to come to him simultaneously. " _You_. Come _here._ Just...get _over_ here. _Please,_ " he begged.

And, almost involuntarily, Pepper obeyed and went to him, her mind screaming at her to stay where she stood, but her heart, her _soul, forcing_ her limbs to move forward into his open arms. She suddenly _ached_ to be held by him, realizing now how _starved_ she'd been for his affection, and how she couldn't go another minute without it.

They smashed into each other, and Tony wrapped his arms around her protectively, letting out a soft, relieved moan. Pepper squeezed her arms around his neck tightly, and squeezed her eyes shut, the burning threat of new tears painfully searing them. She began to sob against his shoulder, and Tony stroked her hair lovingly, gently shushing her sobs. "Shhh, it's okay, Pep. I promise. It'll be okay," he murmured softly. He turned his head to leave a gentle, lingering kiss on her temple.

After a moment, Pepper pulled back to look at him with tear-filled eyes. "What part of _any_ of this do you think is going to be okay?" she asked skeptically.

Tony cupped her cheek, and studied her eyes for a moment. He smiled weakly. "Okay. To be honest, I have no idea," he confessed. They both chuckled sheepishly, and he whisked away a tear rolling down her cheek with his thumb. "But I know _this,"_ he said. "I _love_ you, Pepper Potts. And I'm gonna do my _damndest_ to do right by you, _and_ our baby. Starting..." he said, slowly lowering himself to one knee. " _Now,"_ he finished, looking up into Pepper's eyes deeply, with his hands braced on her hips.

She gasped. "Oh, Tony!" she whispered, as new tears formed in her eyes.

Tony smiled softly, and then shifted his eyes to her middle. He leaned slowly in, and placed an affectionate kiss on her belly, followed by gently resting his head on her stomach. Pepper smiled down at him, and ran her fingers through his hair.

He ran his hands over the small of her back, and then looked back up into her eyes, placing his hands on her hips again. "I just have one question," he said.

Pepper raised her eyebrows questioningly. A slow smile crept over her lips, and she nodded. "Okay," she said, the anticipation of what she could only guess he'd ask her suddenly creating nervous butterflies in her stomach.

Tony furrowed his brow, looking at her inquisitively. "Did you tell Steve about the baby, per chance? Before you told _me?_ Cuz' if you _did,_ I gotta say, that would be a little hard to..." Tony inquired.

Pepper spluttered and scoffed, recoiling in objection at what he was asking her. " _Excuse_ me?!" she demanded. " _That's_ what you wanted to ask me?! You got down on one knee, only to ask me if Steve Rodgers knows that I'm..."

Tony winced, and began to back peddle. "Okay. Yeah, you're right. That's _not_ what I need to know, right now. We'll get to that later," he explained.

"Tony Stark, you have _the_ worst timing, sometimes," she scolded. "But because I _know_ you're curiosity is killing you right now, and you won't be able to focus on anything else until I tell you- the answer is _no. Okay?!_ Of _course_ he doesn't! _I_ only found out just this morning, and called you straight away. I mean, _honestly,_..."

 _"_ Marry me," Tony suddenly blurted out.

Pepper stopped talking, and looked at him, searching his face with wide eyes. " _What?"_ she gasped in shock.

" _That's_ what I _really_ wanted to ask you. _Honest,_ " Tony assured, looking up into her eyes. "Pepper Potts. _Will. You. Marry_ me?"

THE END


End file.
